God is revealed in every person we meet…from the margins, to the web

caring

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

John 6:51-58

Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Faith from the Margins to the Web Authors: Mary, Willie and Charles

Mary, Willie, and Charles are regular attenders of the weekly healing prayer service and feeding program of a local Episcopal church. All three are now older adults who live a short walk from the church; all three have experienced homelessness in their own lives, families, and communities.

We gathered as a small group to discuss the lectionary readings for the 11th, 12th, and 13th Sundays after Pentecost, which pivot around this central point: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” This is the third and final week that we’ll hear from this group.

Our conversation turned to the idea of Jesus as “The Living Bread” and how that image might help us better understand our relationship with God, and each other.

“We’re all God’s children” said Mary. “Especially children and old folks. Sometimes we feel like we’re on the outside of all that is happening. I used to be a CNA, until I hurt my back, lifting before we had all the technologies to help with that. There was a lot of help that people needed and they felt outside, cast out. My job wasn’t just to lift them but to help them feel inside and welcomed. I think that is what Jesus wants to do. To be the living bread that helps us feel like we are inside.”

“That’s right” said Willie, “and when we are on the outside, its hard to feel like you belong, you know, like you’re really family. It might be the thing that people need the most. When we take in Jesus, we begins to see that we ARE family, and to want to treat each other the way we would want to be treated.”

“Treat people like you would treat your own” said Charles.

“See, I was from the country, and we were used to taking care of family” explained Mary. “People who I took care of when I was a CNA, they often felt on the outside of their families. So, I spent time not just doing for them, but helping them know that they were loved, that they were family. It’s the way that we should be towards each other, and I think Jesus knew that. Jesus loves us, so we can be the ones to share that love. That’s what he means by being the Living Bread.”

“Yes! It isn’t just doing what needs to be done, but doing it with love and care, treating each other like family. And if we’re all the people of God, then that means we need each other” said Willie.

This is food for thought for all of us who engage in ministries of feeding, helping, and hospitality. We can so easily get caught up in the mechanics and logistics of what is needed: food, shelter, physical care. But, there is a need for family and community which flows from these ministries. When we walk as Jesus walked, and feed as Jesus fed, we are not merely responding to physical hunger or caregiving. We are sending a message that together, we are one family. In our sharing…not in spite of, but with full awareness of our differences…we live into that possibility of being one family together. God’s presence is made known in us.

Mary closed the group with a prayer of thankfulness for this family that gathers in the name of Jesus, the Living Bread who draws us all near as beloved family.

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 10:11-18

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

For the next several weeks of Eastertide, we are using a group bible study format for Faith from the Margins to the Web which rotates facilitators for each week’s Gospel. For each of the following weeks in Easter season we will feature highlights from the group gathered that illustrate each week’s Gospel lesson. People who had participated in a previous interview were invited to become the group facilitators, and that core group added new participants for each lesson. We’ll hear the Gospel from the perspective of this group for the next three weeks.

Group participants for Easter 4, Easter 5, and Easter 6: Willie. Christina, Kaiju, Paul, William, Jamillah, Angela, Leroy and David. The group began to talk together about this Gospel lesson of Jesus, the Good Shepherd:

“Jesus says he’s the Good Shepherd; that’s like doing everything for us. I’m thinking about what a shepherd might look like now: I’m thinking leadership, guidance, the way that someone needs to lead the flock.”

“Shepherds are there, the good times and the bad times…you know, the flock doesn’t always do what they are supposed to do, but the shepherd doesn’t leave them.”

“Some people have problems because they can’t see God, or touch God. But, I wonder if the sheep really know the shepherd is there until something happens. Then he’s right there, pulling them out of danger. And you know, we don’t want to have faith if we can’t see it. But I believe that we have someone there, when we could have been lost or under the dirt. I think when you’ve done that you know how important a shepherd is.”

“I’ve been pretty fortunate. I look at the kids these days that feel like they have to work and to go to school. I was lucky; my brother played professional basketball and he paid for me, paid my way to college. I think of him as a good shepherd”

“And I think of my Dad as a good shepherd. He had rules and was strict, but it was always for a reason and to protect us. I appreciate that now. He was a good man. I lost him back in ‘97, but I still hear his voice, his words. I try to be that way now, too, with my own children”

“You know, I think it’s about looking out for others; shepherds see a need. Like today, I just saw someone who needed help with his lunch tray. Maybe if I wasn’t looking or paying attention I would have just walked on by. But something told me to keep an eye out, and I was able to help him.”

“I’m thinking in these stories that we’re sharing, it seems like we are learning how to take care of the flock from other people who have shepherded us. Maybe it’s like that with Jesus, too. If Jesus loves us enough to give his life for us, it teaches us how to live into that love and look out for other people. When we do that, other people notice and we realize how much others have looked out for us. It’s like these stories are here to remind us how to shepherd each other, like our Good Shepherd. We’re like shepherds to each other.”